Flat-bed printing-machine.



a. c. ANNAND. FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AG.2o,1 915 '1,262,61 6. Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

l0 SHEETS-SHEET I.

` R."C.ANNAND.1 FLAT BED PRINIIN'G MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG|20| |915- I l 1,262,61 6. Patented Apr. 16', 1918.

10 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. c. ANNAND. FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE.

VAPPLICATION FILED AU4G2011915l 41%LtG11edApr. 16, 1918.

R. c. ANNAND.

FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICA'TION FILED AUG. 20, I9I5 M mund.. 1 DIM nl. Wm w AM W N. mm Il M M1 Wo N m 1 v. P m: om

R. C. ANNAND.

FLAT BED'PRINTING MACHINE. APPLlcAnoN HLED AuG.20, |915.

1,262,61 6. Patented Alu-.16, 1918.

l0 SHEETS-SHEET 5..

R. C. ANNAND..

Patented Apr. 16,1918.

l0 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

II. c@ ANNAND.

4FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG2I 1915.

1 ,262,61 6. Patented A m. 16, 1918.

l0 SHEETSfSHEET 7.

/NI/A'Nronf Mays' I R. C. 4ANNAND. FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINEI APPLICATION FILED AuG.2o, I9I5.

Imm MM?. m 4 Cw m J W R. C. ANNAND.'

FLAT BED PRlNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.20. |915.

R.C.ANNAND FLAT BED PRINTING MACHINE.

` APPLICATION FILED AUG.20|1915.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

I .r y

UNITED srATns PATENT ormoni. f

Rosemont/1Min@ iiNivANii, or'soUTH siiiiiL-Ds, riverain).y

- 1 FLAT-'BED'PRINTING-MACHINE.

To all whom z5/may concern.' y p v -Be it known that I, ROBERT CUMMING ANNAND, of South Shields, inthe county of Durham, England, a subject of the King of Great Britain, have Vinvented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Flat- Bed Pi'inting-ll/Iachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fiat bed printing and perfecting machines of the kind `in which the fiat type beds and the impression cylinders are mounted in reciprocating re lation with each other and inwhich the impression cylinders for printing the respective'sides ofthe paper in'coperation with their type. beds are'alternately .lowered and raised into and out of the plane Vof printing Contact with their respective forms, in such manner thatwhen one cylinder is lowered and printing one side in .one direction. of stroke, the other is raised clear of its form, and in the Vother direction of stroke the second cylinder is lowered and prints the opposite side incont'act with its form While -the former cylinder is raised, means being provided to transfer' the partly printed sheet from the first cylinder to the second,

andthe cylinders beingprovided with gripf pers operated to receive and release the mechanism vbetween them, arranged t0 conl vey the partly Lprinted vsheet yfrom the lower part lof the vfirst impressioncylinderto the Atop or approximately the top of the second impression cylinderto be seized by the grippers of the latter. In carrying outthis improvement I make the' spacing Vof the cyl- 'inders such thatvthe sheet lor thefffullsized `sheet when' the machine is' constructedito n print variable sized sheetsf-after Ybeing Vprintedy on one side'by the `first impression cylinder, reaches from the lower side of this cylinder to about the-top*offthezsecondimpression cylinder. i y

.The invention further ,comprises infcom- Specification of Letters Patent., Paten implication fried-August 20,1915. serial N6. 46;'489'.

biiiation with rising and falling impression of levers operated by .eccentric devices which partlyrevolve the eccentric bearings ofthe cylinders during the last' inch lor .so of travel and during the stationary interval at the ends of the stroke `and duringy the first inch or so lof. travel in thereverse direction. l

teiliipi. ie, i918.

In combination with this arrangementV I also propose to employ a tappetl device or devices located in an intermediate position toactV on tliearms of, the eccentric bearings" of the cylinders, forv lowering 'the'cylinders to the printing plane. Preferably the impression cylinders ref'main in continuous gear with the racks that revolve them. i

Further, according. to the invention the sheet conveying mechanism" between. the cylyinders and serving to convey the partlyprinted sheet head foremost from the first cylinderto grippers at about the top of the second cylinder asfbefore mentioned is combinedv with means whereby the rollers of "this sheet conveyingmechanism are made to revolve'in one direction only and at the surface speed of the cylinders, while the cylin-A ders revolve in both directions as the result of their meshingwith their driving racks in the reciprocation.

For this purpose I may according to the invention employ .an arrangement of free wheel apparatus adapted through the medium of a ratchet wheel and oppositely driving pawls, or other suitable mechanism, to transmit the reciprocating motion of the cylinder carriageor support as a drive in a constant vdirection to the sheetV conveying mechanism. f

Further according to the invention I arrange the form inking rollers on the outer y sides ofand to reciprocate with the imprese' sion cylinders and sheet transferring mechanism before described, in combination with inky supply ducts and4 distributing' rollers Varranged at each'end ofthe ymachinefor the Arespective forms, the distributing rollers'bel ing ,disposed in a horizontal plane andv thc twoA vsets of distributing,-rollers being soV spaced apart that when the form inking Erollersare moving at the respective end por- Y bine with reciprocating and rising and fall- Y tions of their travel they pass backward and forward over the distributing rollers andreceive ink from them.

In combination with such an arrangement I preferably employ rider rollers arranged to `be driven at the surface speed of the impression cylinders and to be in contact with the form inking rollers while the forms are being inked, in combination with means for raising the .rider rollers automatically out of contactwith their form rollers to allow the latter to be rapidly rotated by the distributing rollers when the form rollers are traveling over their distributing rollers at the respective ends.

This maybe effected according to one way,

by gearing the rider rollers to their respective cylinders through chain or other suitable gearing and mounting the rider rollers in brackets at opposite sides of the cylinder carriage, these brackets being slidable up and down so as to raise and lower the rider rollers and runners or rollers being provided adaptedto run up on tapered plates or'inclin'ed surfaces located near the ends of the strokes of the cylinder carriage and thereby lift the rider roller brackets so Vthat the rider rollers are clear of the form inkin'g rollers at the ends of the strokes and can be rotated by coming in Contact with ink distributing rollers to get a supply of ink.

Further according to the invention I coming cylinders and intermediate vsheet transferring mechanism arranged and operating as before described, an arrangement of switchesV and other suitable mechanism which strip theprinted sheet by its leading edge from the perfecting cylinder when the sheet has been released bythe grippersvof the perfecting cylinder, and an arrangement af automatically rising and falling margin tapes, adapted to hold the sheet down on the perfecting cylinder when it is being carriedvaround by the grippers of this cylinder but to be raised clear of the sheet when this is fed forward from the perfecting cylinder so as not to smearl the underneath printed face against the perfecting cylinder in the return stroke.V Y

The invention comprises other improvements which will be seen from the description hereinafter contained.

In a machine according to the invention and arranged for cutting and printing va-` riable sized sheets from va reel, the reel of paper may be mounted in the usual way at j the end of the machine and the paper is led through drawing rollers the speed of whichV can be altered by changeA wheels y to Yfeed more or less'paper to the machine per revoelution, the paper then passing through between two' cutting-or perforating cylinders and two breaking cylinders. From the feeding rollers and cutting and breaking cylinders, which may be arranged or operate substantially in the manner described `in my British specifications Nos. 23849 of 1912 and 26911 of 1913, t'he sheets pass or are fed on and the yleading edge of the paper; passes on to the top or other suitable part of a feed cylinder proper or other `feeding device which by means of a set of grippers or the like carries the sheet downand feeds it into the grippers or sheet seizing devices of the As an example of a machinel according to the invention the construction may be asV follows z-The form beds are arranged in the same plane and placed a suitable distance apart. They are preferably made separate or lin two for convenience, but if desired there might be only one form bed in the machine to carry the printing surfaces forboth sides of the paper. The two reciprocating cylinders are carried in a suitable carriage, for.

example betweentwo frames adapted to be moved backward and forward over theV forms, and a series of margin tapes or other suitable sheet conveying mechanismV is also mounted inthe carriage between the cylinders, which are spaced apart and arranged in combination with this sheet conveying mechanism in such manner that the sheet (or the full-sized sheet in the case of variable sized sheets being printed by the machine) after being printed on one side by the first impression cylinder extends from the lower side of this cylinder to kabout the top of the second impression cylinder.

The carriage is reciprocated by any suitable apparatus, but preferably by connecting rods operated by a crank wheell at each side of the machine.

riage, and to double the travel -of the cyl-V inder carriageby suitable means, as for eX- .ampla by providing a rack -on the underside of the carriage at each side, and a rack on the frame of the machine at each side,

and mountingan axle across under the beds provided with gear wheels of suitable size to engage in the upper and lower racks. rI`he form inking rollers Vfor the respective cylinders will also be arranged to reciprocate or move-to and fro withthe cylinders.

The two impression cylinders are arranged parallel to one anothenand the one cylinder the machine.

in' its forward stroke prints one side ofthe sheet, While on the return stroke the vother cylinder perfecte or prints thesheet on the opposite side.A This cylinder passes the perfected sheet on to cylinders or devices, for

foldingthe sheet or carrying it to anopen v 'as mentioned. The impression cylinders are preferably arranged to make about a revolution and a half during the Whole extent of their travel in either direction. Each cylinder carries a set of finger' grippers which close on the sheets at the proper time and carry then around for printing in contact With the form. lVhen the carriage or frames carrying the impression cylinders fare at say the right hand end of their stroke, the left hand lcylinder has its grippers at the top immediately underneath the feed cylinder or device in orde-r toreceive the sheet fed to it. p

The impression cylinder ywhich has received the sheet starts on its` left hand or printing stroke in thev reciprocation of .the cylinders and prints the sheet, on one side. The lea-ding edge ef the sheet, immediately after it is printed, enters the margin tapes or other means of conveyance, which carry it from the lower side of the iirst impression cylinder to near the top sideof the second imoression cylinder,'ivhere it enters grippers or seizing devices of any usual'or suitable construction carried by this cylinder.

VThese `gripperg` or devices carry the sheet around on the return stroke of the Vsecond cylinder and thus print the paper on the opposite side. Y

Then the second cylinder has made a full revolution lor has printed the second side, the grippers carrying the leading edge of the sheet pass under or into cooperative relation with a conveying or folding cylinder carried in bearings on the machine frame. in this case the sheet istransferred to the conveying cylinder or folding cylinder, and as the impression cylinder continues to complete its printino' stroke the sheetis carried avvay outof the printing TWhen the cylinder carriage has completed its right hand strol're the first impresion cylinder is again under! or in reacting relation'ivith the feeding cylinder or device, which transfers to it anotherlsheet to he printed. Y l j rhe raising and lowering of the impression cylinders to put them into androut of Contact with the printing surfaces maybe car 'ed eut follows z-ThefaXles of the imc Linders arecarried in adjustable lnishesin eccentric circular disks Orfbearings.' and bearings are mounted in circular openings part of y these circular .eccentric disks or or in any other appropriate manner in the lcarriage:*The bushes carrying the axles are not'arranged in the center lof vthe disks but are for example 'an inch or more atone side 4of the center,` 'son that `Whenl the disk` of a cylinder is revolved a few' inches, this has the eiiect o f raising or lowering'the center of the cylinder ,axle and putting the cylinder into or outV of Contact or operative position i with' the printing surface.

@nthese disks there are arms or projections that come into Contact with tappets or levers mountedon `the'frames or ,other part of the machine and operated by eccentric devices which act on said levers and thereby through said arms or projections act on the eccentric disks so as to partly revolve same and raise the, cylinders out of printing contact during vthe lastinch or so of travel 0f the cylinders and during the stationary interval at the ends Of the stroke and during the first into the printing plane at the requiredtimes 'as before'mentloned. f

instead yof havingcylinder raising and depressing tappetsor devices at each side of the machine, a cross shaft is preferably ar` ranged to gear both disks together, so that on moving the disk at onegide, the shaft and l gear Wheels move lthe disk at the opposite endrof the cylinder.

The impression tappe;l mechanism ispreferably so arranged thatV it will alsoform a means of tripping the cylinders, should a sheet be missed, and thus preventthe type from printing on the surface of the impression cylinder'. Vhen the cylinders vapproach the end of the stroke in either direction the mechanism will raise the respective cylinders out of printing Contact j with the type. Since itis the impression tap- Vr'rollers are arranged on'the left hand side of the left hand impression cylinder and on the right hand side of the right hand cylinder landfin' order to get good ink distribution,

the Vinlrducts aref-mounted at the outerends of the type beds` v and distributing drums and rollers arecarried in the framework of the machine or otheriv'isearranged `so as notk to reciprocate Vwith lthe= cylinders, Whereas Vvthe lrollers that apply or put 0n theink tothe typeare carried in the reciprocating alrriage `of *the 54impression cylinders. The ink rollers on the carriage Wheny travellng inch orso of travel in the reverse direction.

at the end `portions of its strokes,travel over the distributing drums at the ends of the type beds and thereby receives supplies of ink as the distributing drums are made to revolve ata good speed, While the ink rollers ,at the end of the stroke slow down in their reciprocating speeds, rider rollers being driven at the surface speed of the im- Fig. 1a. y Y Y Fig. 31S a half cross section on line C, D, Fig. 1.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic sectional views illustrating the operation of `the impression cylinders and sheet transferring. mechanism, Fig. 6.also illustrating the transfer of the printed sheet to the conveying cylinder. Y Y

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view illustrating the `mechanism for operating the impression cylinder grippers. y

Fig. 8 isa perspective view on a large scale and partly in section illustratingthe means for operating the grippers of the impression cylinders.

Fig. 9 is a detail cross section showing in elevation a free wheel mechanism for driving the rollers of the tape mechanism conveying the sheet from one impression cylinder to the other.

Fig. 10 is a detail side elevation on larger scale illustrating the form inking rollers and their rider rollers.

In the example illustrated the machine is provided with mechanism of the kind described in the said British specifications Nos. 23859 of 1912 and 26911 of 1913 for cutting variable sized sheets from a web and feeding same to the printing mechanism, and alsov with means for alternatively feeding sheets 'by hand or an automatic sheet feeder when so desired.

1 is the main frame of the machine on whichis mounted'at one end a feed board 2 of the usual design for hand fed sheets or suitable for carrying an automatic feeder.

Below the feed board is mounted inthe main frame mechanism operating as de- Y scribed in the said British specifications Nos.

web 3 drawn froin-a reel 4 mounted in arms at the feed end of the machine. This mechanism comprises drawing rollers 5, "5, 5

being driven by change wheels according to the size of sheet to be cut and fed; perforatingrollers 6, 6a; breaking rollers 7, Y, switches8, 8, 8 and tape runs 9, 9a arranged to lead the severed sheets to the top of the feeding cylinder 10, the feed table 2 being also arranged so that the leading edge of the sheets fed therefrom passes to the top of cylinder 10.

This cylinder is provided with grippers 11 of known construction operated by a stationary cam 12 on the shaft 13 of cylinder 10 so as to close said grippers on the leading edge of the sheet at the top of the cylinder and carry it around for delivery to the first impression cylinder 14, the grippers being then opened by the cam. l

15 is a stop mounted above feeding cylinder 10 for use when the sheets are fed from the feed board. This stop arrests the front end of the sheet and is carried from a piv- Voted spring controlled arm 16 having a roller 16a working on a cam 17 on the shaft of cylinder 10, which cam has a step 1"(a that allows the Vstop to drop out of the way to allow 'the grippers 11 to seize the sheet when they come around to the top of cylinder 10 and carry it away.

lVhen the automatic sheet cutting and feeding mechanism is used, the stop device and arm 16 are swung up and the roller 16 yis then out of `Contact with cam 17, and the stopfdevice acts as a switch for the automatically fed sheets in a well known way.

18, 18a are fixed upper and lower guides between which the sheet is led to the grippers 14 (see Figs. 4 to 6) of the first impression cylinder 14 when it is released by the grippeis 11 of cylinder 10. 19 is a pressure roller and 20 a smoothing brush carried on opposite arms 19a, 2Oa of a boss mounted on a stud 22 in the-frame 1 and carrying a lever 23 with a roller 231L working on a cam on the axle of the feeding cylinder 10, the arrangement being such that when the grippers 11 open to release the sheet, the rollerk 19 feeds the sheet onward until it enters the grippers, whereupon it is swung out of contact' with the sheet and by the same movement the smoothing brushv is swung on to the sheet. Y

25 is the second or perfecting impresssion cylinder.

26, 27 are two type beds for carrying the forms for printing the respective sides of the sheet. These beds are carried in the side frames of the machine and are provided at each end with an inclined plane 28, 29

- (Figs. 1a, 1C) for operating the rider rollers of the form inlring mechanism as hereinafter explained.

TheA impression cylinder 14and perfecting..

' 31', V32at each side', thewheels 33` being coupledby 'connecting rods to crank studs ot large crank wheels 35V one at each side or the machine. Bydriving the Carriage 30 through tixed stationary racksas explained, the throw of lthel crank 'studs 35 1s 1n effect` doubled and the 'carriage is made to travel double thedistance traveled by` thecross shaft`34. f i' V i Racks 3T'are provided, oneat each side ot the machine,` running the full length of the type beds, and meshing 'with toothed wheels on each side ot each of the axles of impression cylinders 14 and'25 one of which wheels is seen at`33'in Fig. 3. The cylinders 14and are arranged to beraised and lowered alternately into and out of printing position as described later, but so that their toothed wheels lalways remain in 'gear with the racks'37 at each'side.

The gripp'ers14a ofA the lirst'im'pression cylinder 14 and the grippers 25l of the s e'cond impression cylinder v25 are operatedito grip and release the sheet'attherequired times,lan`d margin tape mechanism arranged and driven as described later 'is mounted between these cylindersV in the carriage so' as to convey the sheet lfronitlie bottom of the cylinder 14 to the 4top of Cylinder 25.

The grippers of each oi' thesetwo cylin-V ders are arranged for operation inthe man. ner illustrated in detail with reference to cylinder 14 in Figs. 7' and S. In these figures 3f) is the axle oftheimpressioncylinder 14 and 40 the gripper rod (spring seated'in the knownway) carrying the grippers 14a. 'On the axle 39 at the end or' the cylinder'is Vmounted a sleeve 41 sliding longitudinally on a key 42m axle 39. This sleeve has skew teeth at 43. On the en d of gripper rod 40 is a toothed segment 44 with skew teeth gearf ing with thoseiof the sleeve. Thus when the sleeve slid longitudinally on the axle the skew teeth cause the spring "seated gripper rod 40 to oscillate and thereby 'open and close the grippers. The sliding motion is imparted to the sleeve through the medium ot a bell crank lever 45, 45a hinged inthe middle at 46V on a bracket '47 which isat` tached to the reciprocating carriage `30l in which the impression cylinders are mounted, the arm 45u of the bell crank'lever carrying a roller 48 working lina circumferem tial groove 49 of the sleeve 41 andthe other arm carryinga roller 50 `to be acted upon byE 'cams asexplained later. f1

The' construction `of' the gripperv n'ieeha`- nism" ot' the second impression cylinder 25 is the same as thatljust' ldescribed of cylinder 14,V but the upperfarm 51 and roller-52 of the'bell crank leverfl, 51 ot' cylinderf do 'not extend to so high a level as those of cylinder 14, as thegrippers of cylinder 25 are operated by different'cams thanjtho'se for cylinder 14. The action of opening and cl'o'singthe grip'pers oi' cylinders 14Vand :25 is illustrated in Figs'. 4, 5,6 and 7. f" Y Fig. 4 shows the sheet being vted to the rst 'impression cylinder 14.

' On the axle 13 ofthe feed-in cylinder l0 i isa cam 53. This cam through a rolle`rf54 operatesi a tappet55 mounted'to swing on an' axle 56 attached to the machine frame. This tappetis caused by the cam 53 to "swing back, thereby allowing the grippers 14.ot the spring seated gripper bar 40 of cylinder 14 to close on the sheet tedv to them from cylinder 10. The carriage 30 with cylinders 14 Vand 25 then moves to the left and when the grippers 14a have carried :the sheet, aroundfso t'ar that. its leading' edge reaches the entrancel of theconveying tapes between the cylinders, the roller 50 Aof bell crank le-v ver 45, 45a comesagainst a ixed bar or. cam 5T Vwhereby the grippers Aare opened to ref lease the sheet. This releasingof the sheet takes place when the roller 50 reaches the point on the cam 57 marked 58, i. c. at the top ot the beveled' end thereof. The grippers 14a remain open during all the Vrest of the travel and only close'again' when sheet ted by the intermediate conveying v tapes,by the actionof a tappet 59, operated by a cani 60 on shaft 13 of cylinder 10, throughthemedium of aca'in roller 61 catr- 'ried on aforked lever 62 which embraces by its forked end the axle13 ot cylinder 10 and is connected at the vother end to an arm (S3-on the-axle 64 of theftappet59, so that this? tappet is thus operated by thecam 60,.

This tappet vfirst opens the spring seated gripper-s 25EL to receive thesheet, by striking against the roller 52 oftheirbell crank lever and then springs bac-kunder thefaction of thecam 60 and allows the grippers to close on the sheet (see'Fig. 5) and carry., it around to print the otherside on the returnfstroke of the-cylinder carriage. When the sheet has thus been printed on its second side the grippers EL are Vopened. (see Fig. 6) by their operating roller 52 coming against another Xed bar cam 65 formed similarly to the bar cam 57 and adapted to hold the grippers 25 open during the greater part of the travel of the roller 52 on the'cam bar 65, the grippers not'being closed again until the roller 52 passes the point 66 of cam bar 65 in the left hand stroke of the carriage.

The above describes y how the sheet Yis caught by the grippers l-Llf when it is fed to the first cylinder (see Fig.` 4i) how grippers la are openedv to deliver the sheet Yinto the tapes that convey it to the topvof the second cylinder 25 (see Fig. 5), how the grippers 25a of this cylinder are opened and closed lupon the sheet (see yFig'. 5.) and how the grippers 25a are again opened to release the sheet after it has been-printed on both sides (see Figs. 6 and 4:). Y Y v i G7 are stripping switches mounted in the carriage near the second impression Icyly inder 25 aud operated by any means coinmonly employed for actuating such switches, such as a cam loose on the axle of this cylinder and suitably actuated in'relation to the grippers and acting through a roller and lever to raise the switches 67 clear of the Ygrippers 25il when thesheet is being carried by said grippers, and to lower them to position to strip the sheet from the cylinder 25 when it has been carried around and printed thereon and released by the grippers.

The sheets are fed to the vgrippers lila vof the iirst impression cylinder lll at the molment when the cranks that reciprocate the carriage '30,y are at the right hand end of their stroke (Figs. 1b, 1C and When the carriage 30V travels to the left, he sheet is carried around by this cylinder and printed on one side as it passes over the form on the lefty hand type bed 26, the cylinder 14 having been lowered into printing relation with this form and impression cylinder 25 having been raised outl of printing relation with the right hand form on type bed 27. At the end .of the stroke to the left the cylinder 14E is raised out of printing contact by the mechanisnihereinafter described so as to clear the type on form 26 in the return stroke, and in the return stroke the second impression cylinder 25 will Vbe lowered into printing position relatively to the form ony bed 27 and will be raised out of printingv relation thereto vat the end of this stroke, and so on, so that one cylinder is in printing relation to its form in one stroke, and the other in printing relation to its form in the return stroke.V

Fig. 5 shows the cylinders 1li and 25 at the farthest point of their left hand stroke. The sheet is shown by the dash line 68, the grippers 25a having been closed uponthe switches also mounted in the carriage 30 and serving to receive and guide the sheet from the movable stripping switches 67.

Fig. 6 shows the parts during the .rightYV hand stroke ofthe carriage 30 when the right'hand cylinder 25 is at about the middle of the righthand form 27 rlhe sheet is seen wrapped around the cylinder 25 and held by the-grippers 25a.v The grippers 25a are just on the point of being opened by the cam bar to release the sheet, and it will be understood that the stripping switches 67 will havebeen moved Vclose to the cylinder bytheir operating means'to strip the sheet. The further travel and rotation of the cylin der 25 prints the rest of thesheet, the leading edge of which is stripped off the cylinder 25 by the strippers` 67 and the sheet is passed along the set of lixed switches 69.

By kthe time the cylinders have reached the end of their right hand stroke, the leading edge of the sheethas reached the grippers 70 of a folding or conveying cylinder 7l! mounted in the side frames of the ma-V chine, the grippers 70 being caused by acam 72 onthe cylinder axle to Vclose on the sheet TheV fully printed sheet is still partly encircling the second impression cylinderV 25,v

but the furthermovement ofthe machine causes cylinder 7l to draw oli the sheet while the carriage starts again' on its left hand stroke.-

The cylinder 71 is provided with a folding blade 73 diametrically opposite its grippers 7 0, and arranged to fold the sheet into suitably located grippers of a cylinder 7 4 which carry the partly folded sheet to other folding mechanism of well known form, the :first cylinder of which is Vseen at 75 (Fig. 1d). For example cylinder 75 may coact with another "cylinder to give the sheet a second cross fold. l rlhe grippers* o f cylinder 74u are not shown but they may be of any suitable form and Voperated in any convenient way. if

y lf vthe sheets are not required to be folded and are to be delivered flat, the folding blade ofv cylinder 71 .may be vremoved or dispensed with, and the cylinder 71 can transfer the sheet to an intermediate cylinder 76 having grippers to receive it and which passes it onralong an apron oftapes 77 to a well known open delivery mechanism comprising cylinders 78, 79 having sprocket chains 80 passing around them carrying travaS desired or the machine may comprise only oneof these arrangements.l f

84,` Fig. 1c, represents a set of non-traveling margin tapes or wires passing `around rollers 85, 86 carried Von the arms 87, 87.ya of-a lever ypivoted at `88v to -the side frame of the machine, these tapes or wires being lkept taut by springs 89V interposed in their length. These tapes or wires serve to hold -the sheet down on topof the vperfecting cylinder 25 w-hen it is seized and carried varound by the grippers 25a, but as the sheet comes around to the top in -the rotation of this cylinder and is fed forward to the conveying cylinder 71, it is necessary to raise the margin tapes or wires 84 .to prevent smudging of the printed lunder facefby rubbing against the cylinder :25 on the return stroke of this For this purpose the `arm S7 ofv cylinder. the pivoted lever carries at its end a cam roller 90 working against a cam 91 on the axle of cylinder 71, this cam being adapted to rock the 'lever 87, 87a and thereby automatically swing the tapes or wires 84 down or allow them to rise so as to lower them into contact with 4the cylinder 25 at Ythe required times.

An important feature of Vthe invention is the mechanism for conveying `the partly printed sheet from cylinder 14 to the grippers 25L of cylinder 25 or allow them to rise out of Contact therewith. It is necessary that no rub shall take place on Ythe f under and newly printed side of the sheet,

For this.

as this would smear the pri-nt.l Y purpose the .tapes 92, 93 that convey the sheet from cylinder 14 to the top of cylinder 25 to be seized by the gripper-s 25a are Y made to travel always at the surface speed of the cylinders but always in one direction, while the cylinders Vtravel `in l,the opposite directions alternately. One suitable form of mechanism for eii'ecting` this continuously forward motion ofthe tapes while the cyl-l inders Shave a reciprocating motion is shown in the drawings. 1n this arrangement (see Figs. 1b, 10') an upper run of guiding tapes 92 passes around the tape rollers 94, and 95, and margin tapes 96 pass around the cylinder 14 and the roller 94 between the guiding tapes 92 of the upper run from 94 Vt0 95, the set of margin tapes 96 thus going around the cylinder 14 and the roller 94, and the upper set of tapes 92 running between rollers 94 and 95. The lower run of tapes '9.3 passes around tape rollers 98, 98 at each' end, and an intermediate driven roller 99 geared to roller 94 and arranged to be driven by aspeciesv of free wheel mechanism as 100 is .a .gear wheel carriedv by 'a stud 101 (F ig. 9a in ithe carriage 30. This wheel 100 meshes in the toothed rrack 37 onv the frame at one sidezof` the type bedsandalso with a loose wheel-102 .mountedonthe axle` Keyed onthe axle 99 99 of tape roller 99. is aratchet wheellOB.' Mounted on ythe ace of the loose gear'1 Vwheel 102 isa pawl- 104.

it anotherxgear wheelvlO which drives .an-

other stud wheel l106 land* :through this a i i wheel 107 mounted loose on the axle, 99a of roller 99, this wheel 10.7 carrying .a fpaW-l 108v lying on the other side ofthe ratchet wheel .103 from pawl '104. As willl be seen,

the two vloose wheels `1102 :and 107 run in opposite directions. carried by each lwirl'l only engage` andV drive the )ratchet wheelA 1:03 .inon'e direction of,`

their motion it follows that this lcombina-y tion of1 :mechanism will Adrive roller 99 always in one direction (the forward direction) whichever way thecarr1age-30 travels with ythe impression cylinders. t

VvI have shown ratchetand p awls asa suit-y able means ofv converting the backward and forward motion -into a continuously'forward movement, but there' -a-ie many equivalent.

devices which could Abe Aused for the purpose.

As `before mentioned the impression cylin-l in conical adjustable bushes 109 (Fig.

held in eccentric disks or bearings 110 `mounted in circular openings in4 the side framesof the carriage and' yarranged to be partially rotated asabout to be explained,

and when thus rotated the cylinders are slightly raised above the level of the formy so, that 'they can pass voverin one direction without -touchingthe form, but only to suchan extent that `the y-gear wheels of' the-respec-v tive cylinders l14, l'25 still remain in *gear with the racks'37 on the frame;l

Y At 4one side ofthe machine the eccentric` bearings 110 areformed with lugs 111 carrying cam rollers 112 and also withteethvat one part of their -peripheryas at113, these' teeth "gearing with pinions 114Q-on cross axles 115 lcarried vin the carriage 30 near each cylinder r14 and 25 and serving to carry the motion ofthe eccentric bearingsgat one side of themach'inefacross theV machine to the eccentric bearings at the other-fend ofthe cylinders which 4likewise have teeth meshing onl the cross axles 115 at tha-tside. v

with Vcorresponding toothed wheel y 116,' 117 are rocking spring-controlled tappets mountedon studs 11S, 1'19 in the frame at the respective ends of the machine at the 7`5v Gear wheel100has fastened: :tothe side of K same side as the eccentric bearings formed with the lugs 111, these tappets being opei'at'ed respectively by `eccentric cams 120, 121 mounted respectively on the stud shaft 122 and the axle 123 vof the folding or conveying cylinder 71these cams acting on the tappets through cam rollers 124', 125 carried by the tappets.

llhen the carriage 30 nearly reaches either end of its stroke,rthe roller 112 of the eccentric bearing of the cylinder at that end passes on to the corresponding tappet 116 or 117. 'llliese'tappets are so timed by their operating cams 120, 121 that When the car-` riage isnearing the corresponding end of its travel vthey lift theroller 112 of the given cylinder and thereby partly rotate the eccen-.y tric bearings and raise the cylinder out of printing relation tothe type.

rllhere is .of course aperiod .at the end of they travel of the carriage, just before andV after the driving cranks 35 of Wheels 36 pass the dead center, when the travel of the car.; riage is very slow. The cams 120, 121 and tappets 116, 117 are so timed that While the carriage 30 travels aboutjthe last inch one Way, and While it is stationary and also during about its first inch lof travel in the reverse Way, they perform their Work of raising the cylinders Without. shock or jar.

Each cylinder is thus raised oftl the inipression so as to return over the type Without Contact, notwithstanding that the gear Wheels 38, on the cylinder axles 39 remain in mesh With the racks 37 and rotate the cylinders in the alternate directions.

The impression cylinders 14 and 25 of the carriage.

, Before the cylinders 14 and 25 reach their y and havinga tail 134 on its boss connected to the side frame by a spring 135, the tappet plate 126 being connected to a belly crank leverY 136, pivoted at 137 and having a cam roller 138 Working l'on a cam 139 on the aXle 13 of cylinder 10. The tappet plate ',126 is caused by the cam 139 and lever 136 Working against ythe action of the spring 135, to rise and fall at the required times to clear or act upon the rollers 112 ofthe eccentricv bearings of the printing cylinders 14, 25.

When the roller 112 of the respective cylinder (previously raised Y by ythe' corresponding tappet 116 or '117 as lbefore mentioned) strikes the tappet plate 126 which is lowered V*makeV about a revolution and a half in each stroke at the required times bythe cam 139, the eccentric bearing of this cylinder is turned down again to bring the cylinder intoprinting relation with the forni, the tappet plate` 126 always' acting at the required time toput and thereby retain the latter in the printing position.

Referring t-o the inking apparatus, the set of inking mechanism for each cylinder 14 and 2511s arranged .on the outer side of the corresponding impression cylinder and each set comprises ,inking rollersV mounted on the carriage and .distributing rollers carried by tlieframe at the respective ends and serving to distribute thetink to the inking rollers.

1n each set, `(see-moreparticularly Figs.'

10and 1b) 142, 142,142, are composition form inking rollers and 143, 143 are steel rider rollers restingl on thc inking rollers 142 for `the purpose of giving'extra distribution of the ink and also for driving the inking rollersat the surface speed at `which they areto rotate when passing over their respective forms. rider rollers are mounted on the carriage 30 in the outer sides of their corresponding cylinders andthe rider rollers 143 of each set are driven by a stud gear Wheel 144 mounted y between them and driven bya pitch chain 145 from a Wheel onA the end Vof the corresponding cylinder 14 and 25.

146, 146, 146, 146 are sets of distributingV steel rollers mounted inthe frames atythe respective ends of the machine and receiving These inking rollers and ink fronipducts 147, 147 ofv usual construction, these distributing rollers being in contact with intermediate ink conveying rollers 148, 148, 148 and being Vdriven at a considerable and constant speed imparted to Y the set at the' left handA end of the machine by a gear Wheel 1.49 and to thel set at the right hand end by a gear-Wheel 150,the Wheels 149-and 150 each meshing with a pinion on the end roller 148 and the ink con-f veyingl rollers being geared to the distribut ing rollers 146 by toothed pin'ions 151 as indicated.

When the form inking rollers 142 of each set are passing over the type of their forni, the rider rollers 14,3l are resting` on them and driving them at the required speed for inking the` form. .4t the end portions of Vthe Ystrokes of the carriage 30 the form rollers 142 at the given end pass over the steel distributing rollers 146 and While the forni rollers are passing slowly over these rollers in this portion of the motion of the Carriage, the distributing rollers 146 running at a considerable and constant Speed as mentioned, distribute ink to the form rollers for inking the form for the next sheet to be printed.

The ink is supplied from the ducts 147 to the distributing rollers 146 in any usual manner suoli as shown in which a cam 152 on the axle of wheel 149, and a similar cani 154 on the axle 155 of wheel 150, respectively operate vibrating messenger or ductor rollers 156, 156 through bell crank levers 157, 157, and the ink duct advancing movement is imparted by rods 158, 158i which may also be operated by the cams 152, 154 or otherwise; the intermediate conveying rollers 148 can also be operated with an en'dwise or so called waving motion by cams on the axles 153, 155 or otherwise in the well known way.

lllhen the composition form rollers 142 are in Contact with the type the rider rollers 143 are closed down upon them and driving them. When the form rollers 142 are passing over the distributing rollers 146 the rider rollers 143 are raised off the form rollers 142 so as to allow these to be freely revolved by contact with the distributing rollers. For this purpose the rider rollers 143 are carried in bearing brackets 159, 160 at opposite sides of the carriage 80. These brackets are slidable up and down so as to or lower the rider rollers. At all times except at the ends of the stroke the rider rollers 143 rest on the form inking rollers 142. lVhen, however, the carriage 30 nearly reaches the end of its stroke in the respectivo directions, runners or rollers 161, 162 run on to the inclined planes 28, 29 before refe red to. rilhis causes the runners 161, 162 to lift the roller brackets so that the rider rollers 143 are clear of the form inkine rollers 142 so that these latter can be rotated by coming in contact with the distributing rollers and thus get a supply of ink.

The manner of driving the machine will be apparent. 170 is the main driving shaft which may receive the power from any prine mover or belt. On this shaft is a toothed wheel 171 at each side of the machine. these toothed wheels gearing with the crank wheels 36 (one at each side). On the front sido of the machine ya gear wheel 172 is mounted on the axle 362t of the crank wheels behind the front crank wheel. This wheel 172 drives the stud wheel. 17 3 which convevs power to the gear wheel 174. This wheel is mounted on the cross axle 122 that carries the cam 120 and it drives the stud wheels 175, 176, 177 conveying power lio the web cutting and feeding mechanism, the wheel 177 gearing with a wheel 178 NUS@ Which meshes with pinions 179, 180 on the axles of cylinders 6 and 7, and the lower drawing roller 5 driven through change gear. l

The wheel 172 also drives a stud wheel 181 which is sufficiently broad to gear into both wheels 172 and 149 which latter drives the composition inking` rollers 148 and steel. inl' rollers 146 at the left hand end of the niachine. y

The wheel 36 drives the wheel 182 and axle 183 which in turn drive the side shaft 184 by a pair of miter wheels 185, 186. lThe power to drive the conveying cylinder 71, folding' mechanism and feed in cylinder 10 is conveyed from the side shaft 184 by the upright shaft 187 to a cross shaft 188 by bevel gears 189, 190. The gear Wheel 191 on cross shaft 188 drives the conveying cylinder 71 by a gear wheel 192 on the axle of this cylinder and which in turn drives cylinders 74, 75. The gear wheel 191 also drives the stud wheels 193, 194, 195, the last of which meshes with a gear wheel 196 on the axle 18 of the feed in cylinder 10.

The stationary inking mechanism at the right hand end of the machine, and which as before mentioned is the same as that at the left hand end, is driven by bevel gear 197, 198 and a toothed wheel 199 which meshes with the wheel 150 that drives the ink rollers 148.

The operation of the machine above described is substantially as follows. rlfhe sheets being cut from the web 3 by the feeding, perforating and breaking cylinder 5,

5, 6, 6a, 7, 7a or being fed from the feed board 2 as explained pass to the feed cylinder 10. This carries the sheets into the grip of the grippers 14a of the rst impression cylinder 14 when this is at the end of its right hand stroke, and this cylinder 14 in moving to the left prints the paper on one side. J ust after the tail end of the sheet has left the type of the left hand form (when doing a full sized sheet) the leading edge of the sheet has reached the grippers 251 on top of the second impression cylinder 25. The crank mechanism for reciprocating the cylinders brings the carriage and cylinders and sheet to a standstill just at the moment the sheet reaches the grippers 25a of the second cylinder and these close on it. rEhe grippers 25a' carry the sheet around and print the other side on the right hand form in the return stroke of the carriage; the grippers 252L then open and the switches 67 and 69 strip the sheet from the cylinder 25 and pass it on to the folding or conveying cylinder 71, which may act to give the sheet a cross foldin conjunction with another folding cylinder or to forward it to the open delivery as described.

F, Fig. 3 indicates diagrammatically a vgether over the 'type beds, means for impart- ,ing rotation to said cylinders'both in one direction in one stroke ofthe cylinders and lboth inthe opposite direction in the Inext 'cliine comprising vin combination vtwo inipression cylinders and type beds therefor,

means for reciprocating said cylinders `tostroke of thecylindersv in the reciprocation, means for alternately and' inversely loweringl and raising'said cylindersinto and out of printing' relation with the type beds,

means located between and reciprocating with the cylinders for conveying the sheet "printed on one side from the lower part of `the iirst impression cylinder to about the top `of the second impression cylinder, grippers on`the` second inipression'cylinder adapted to seizethe leadiiigen'd of the sheet so fed 'by said conveying means, and ymeans for opening said. grippers to releasev the sheet after it has beencarried around and printed by the lsecond impression cylinder.

2. fiat bed printing and perfecting inacliiiie comprising iny combination two' impression cylinders and type beds therefor, means for reciprocating. said cylinders toi'getlier over the type beds, racksvfor imparting'rotation tosaid cylinders,both in one kdirection in one stroke of the cylinders and both in the opposite direction in the next lstrolie `of the cylinders in the'reciprocatioin means for alternately and inversely lowering andraising said cylinders Vinto and out of printing relation with the type beds, means `locatedv between and 'reciprocating with the cylinders for conveying tlie sheet printed on one side from the lower part of the tii'stiinpre'ssion cylinder to about the top of the second impression cylinder, grippers on the second impression cylinder adapted to l,seize the leading end of the sheet so fedv by said conveyingy means, and means for opening said grippers to release the sheet after it has been carried around and printedby Vthe second impression cylinder, the spacing e ofthe impression' cylinders being such that a full sized 'sheet, 'afterrprinting on one side bythe first impression cylinder reaches from the lower side thereof to about the top of the second impression cylinder, 'substantially asdescribed. A i i 8. A flat bed printing and perfecting vinachine comprising in combination two impression' cylinders 'and type beds therefor, means for reciprocating said cylinders together over the type beds, racks for imparting rotation to said cylinders both in one 'directionin one stroke of' the cylinders and both in the opposite direction in the next stroke of the cylinders in the reciprocation, means for alternately'and inversely lowering and raising said cylinders into andout of printing relation `'with the type beds, conieying tapes located between and reciprocating with the lcylinders, for conveying the sheet printed 'on one side from the lower part of the first impression cylinder to about the top of the second impression cylinder, grlippers on the second impression cylinder adapted to seize the leading edge of the sheet lso fed by 'said conveying tapes, and means for openingsaid grippers to release thesheet after it has been carried around and printed lby the second impression cylinder.

flat bed'pi'inting andperfecting ma- 'chine comprising' in combination l -two :impression cylinders and type beds therefor,

means for reciprocating 'said cylinders' together over the type beds, racksf'or imparting rotation to saidcylinders both in one direction inone stroke of the cylinders and both in the opposite direction in the next lstrokeof the c'yliiiders'in the "reciprocation,

inea-ns fora'lternately and inversely lowering and raising saidcylnidei'sinto and out of printing relation vwiththe type beds, conveying tapes located between and reciproeating with the cylinders, for conveying the vsheet printed on one side from the lower l part ofthe iirstiinpres'sioncylinder 4to about the top of the second limpression cylinder, grippers on thesecond impression cylinder adapted to seize the leading edge of the sheet so fed by said conveying tapes, means for opening said grippers tov release the sheet after it has been-carried around and printed by the' second impression cylinder, grippers on the iii'st impression cylinder to grip and -carry varound the slieet on the iirst impression cylinder, and means for operating the grippersl of the first impression cylinder to vclose and grip the sheet and to release the sheet to the said conveying tapes leading to the upper part of the seco-nd impression cylinder, `substantially' as described. i

5. A. fiat bed printing'and perfecting inachine comprising in combination two :impression cylinders and type bedsl therefor, means for reciprocating said cylinders together over the type beds, racks for imparting rotation to said cylinders both in one direction in one stroke of the cylinders -and -both in 'the opposite' direction in the next strokeof the cylinders lin the reciprocavti'on, meansr for 'alternately and inversely Y' lowering and raising said cylinders into and out of'prin'ting relation with the type beds,

conveying tapes located between and recip- 

